The Jebel Toubkal Trek - I hurt!!

Trip Start Jul 23, 2007
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Trip End Aug 17, 2007


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Flag of Morocco  ,
Thursday, August 2, 2007

Imlil is great - we stayed at a place a little way out of the village itself, (Gite Tamatert Belle Vue, or something. Guys called Rashid, Mohammed, and one that we met in Marrakech called Jamal) but it was totally worth the extra 20 minutes walk up the hill, the guys are really friendly and the food is fantastic. The trek itself was as hard as I expected it to be, but the view from the top was incredible, as was the feeling we got when we finally got back to out hostel at the end of the second day! There are lots of other treks to do in the area as well, if you have time don't just confine yourself to Toubkal!

We were dogged most of the way up by 3 German guys with a flag ("a flag?!"  "yes, a flag."). Not the German flag, but a flag showing the symbol of their walking club. How very German. They beat us to the top eventually, but only because I thought I was going to die ("it was the altitude, Doctor"), Lewis could probably have beaten them with one of his feet cut off View from the Gite 3
View from the Gite 3
 . They definitely woudn't have beaten us if the leading two actually had managed to kill the third by sending a big rock rolling down a hill at him.

There's a big pointy thing at the top, to show you that you've got there, because, to be honest, there's a mountain across the valley that looks higher... but it can't be because if it is you might as well just kill yourself right there because you've just walked up the wrong bloody mountain. (Don't worry, no deaths, it was the right mountain.) Unfortunately, the whole thing is spoiled by the grafitti and the bits of orange peel and eggshell and cracker packet and whatnot.

You know what? Goats make very odd noises as well. It's almost like they're trying to speak but can't articulate anything. Apart from 'hello' one time...

Where's the beach..?!
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Comments

fast
fast on Nov 14, 2007 at 11:35AM

how far the top?
Hey. I woundered how far it it to the top from the city (imil?).
We are some runners who would like to try it, and its interresting to know how many km it is and how many meters climping, altitude it is??

Best regards, Anders T

fast
fast on Nov 14, 2007 at 11:35AM

how far the top?
Hey. I woundered how far it it to the top from the city (imil?).
We are some runners who would like to try it, and its interresting to know how many km it is and how many meters climbing, altitude it is??

Best regards, Anders T

fip
fip on Nov 14, 2007 at 10:31PM

Re: how far the top?
hi,

the total ascent is 1467m (or 4813 feet) from Imlil to the summit.

The distance from Imlil to the Toubkal Refuge is about 10km (6.2 miles), with an ascent of about 500m (1640 feet). It is uphill all the way, but it is also fairly gentle. Walking with packs should take about 6 hours.

I'm afraid I'm not sure exactly how far it is from the Refuge to the summit, but even though the distance is much less, the path is a lot steeper and the scree is very loose. The ascent from the refuge to the summit is 960m (3150 feet). it should take about 4 hours from the refuge to the summit, and then you should have time to get all the way back down to Imlil by the evening.

I really hope this helps, I hope you have fun doing it and I'd love to hear how you get on!

Fipx

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